The Magpies' shaky defence was tested as early as the first minute when Titus Bramble was too casual and allowed a ball to fall in front of Allan Russell.

But to the relief of the centre-back, the Stags striker failed to control the ball from two yards out.

Newcastle's central midfield pairing of Lee Clark and Charles N'Zogbia were made to look like novices by Stephen Dawson and the tricky 19-year-old Giles Coke.

Coke, in particular, made the most of Newcastle lack of midfield bite and was close to getting his name on the scoresheet, but saw his shot from outside the box creep narrowly wide of Shay Given's post.

Although the second half was an improvement for Graeme Souness' men, it was Mansfield who had the first chance when Given was forced to palm away Adam Rundle's volley.

Newcastle had their first clear effort on goal when Stephen Carr volleyed high from three yards after he was slipped in by Shearer.

The Newcastle number nine then missed himself with a similar effort.

As the Mansfield legs began to tire, Newcastle began to make the most of their superior stamina.

And with just 10 minutes remaining, up popped Shearer to fire the ball past Kevin Pressman, write his name into Magpies folklore and bring relief to the majority of the 41,459 in attendance.